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041 Professor Nadav Na’aman has suggested that Khirbet Qeiyafa should be identified with the Biblical site of Gov, which was the location of two battles between the Philistines and the Israelites (2 Samuel 21:18–19), but following Anson Rainey’s...

038 Yossi Garfinkel has gone Biblical. After years of laboring in the pleasant orchards of prehistory, Yossi decided he needed a new and different site. The voluptuous (not to say zaftig) middle-aged goddesses of Sha’ar ha-Golan (a site...

055 Finds of ancient manuscripts, often fragmentary, and quotations by the Church Fathers have shown that during the first and second centuries, at least ten gospels were circulating.1 The New Testament had not yet been canonized. That the...

045 In Isaiah 22 the prophet rails in God’s name against the excesses of the officials in King Hezekiah’s palace. Among those he singles out is Shebna, the steward who is “in charge of the house [palace]” (Isaiah 22:15): What have you here and...

098 Despite what some may think, we do not court controversy. On the other hand, we do not shrink from it either. Nor do we hesitate to take up a worthy cause and fight for it—even if that means ruffling a few feathers. Some might think of them...

023 I’ve lived in Jerusalem for more than 59 years. I sometimes feel I can put myself in the shoes (or minds) of ancient Jerusalemites. I think I can tell better than most where these ancient Jerusalemites would have located different facilities...

039 In 1972 Hershel Shanks took a sabbatical from his legal practice in Washington, D.C. He and his family went to Jerusalem for a year. Once there, the Shanks family became part of a network of friends and colleagues who comprised some of the...

117 Making piles of rocks and broken pottery look appealing can be difficult. But we have been fortunate in our long-time partnership with designer Robert Sugar and his studio, AURAS Design. Every other month they take our raw materials and turn...

052 There is no denying that a stunning site shot or an artistic artifact photo can make the past come alive in ways that writing alone cannot. We’ve worked with the world’s foremost photographers, museums and stock houses to illustrate BAR with...

047 Where would we be without our loyal readers? No sooner had the first issue been mailed out than we began receiving letters back with compliments, criticisms and questions. Two hundred issues later, our readers are as engaged and outraged as...

034 “Get tough or die,” as Dor veteran Merrill likes to say, is the best way to describe my first day working in Area D5 at the new Tel Dor expedition. At the start of the dig, we all naively thought we were going to be able to stay clean. What...

024 Even before Nehemiah came from Babylonia to Jerusalem in the middle of the fifth century B.C.E., he knew that he wanted to rebuild the broken-down walls of Jerusalem (Nehemiah 1:3). When he arrived, he promptly made his famous night journey...

076 The prologue of The Travels of Sir John Mandeville begins in old-fashioned English, “I, John Mandeville, Knight, albeit I be not worthy, that was born in England, in the town of St. Albans, and passed the sea in the year of our Lord...

053 Ancient Jerusalem sometimes reveals itself in little bits. In this case, it is a tiny inscription with only six letters preserved. So little remains of ancient Israel in the City of David (the 12-acre...

074 Of course, we think every archaeological discovery reported in BAR is important—from the smallest seal or ostracon to the largest imposing fortress. But there’s no denying that some finds do stand out. The following ten examples are by no...

044 Southwest Missouri State University professor Charles Hedrick opens the discussion by setting the stage for us, as we asked him to do, without revealing his own belief in the authenticity of Secret Mark. In 1958 Morton Smith, a 43-year-old...

059 Hershel Shanks reveals his own conclusion about Secret Mark as a result of his study of the opposing arguments. My earlier contribution to this discussion of the letter containing Secret Mark is headed “Morton Smith—Forger”. My task was to...

057 To the woman he said, “I will make most severe Your pangs in childbearing; In pain shall you bear children.” (Genesis 3:16) Bearing twins can be especially painful—and dangerous. The vulnerability of a twin pregnancy and the anxiety it could...

049 In true BAR fashion, we wanted to present the case for a forgery, a position numerous scholars hold. After being turned down by three major scholars who embrace this position, editor Hershel Shanks undertook to summarize the evidence himself...

029 If you’ve ever wanted to volunteer on an archaeological dig, our annual guide to excavations has all the info you need to find a dig that’s right for you. And when it comes time to pack for your trip, don’t forget your hat, sunscreen, work...